


You can light up the dark

by chailover



Series: You can light up the dark [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Families of Choice, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-05-19 03:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14865633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chailover/pseuds/chailover
Summary: The thought of 'home' had always been a little complicated for Shisui - a weird amalgamation of village, clan and his rented room - until Mikoto and Itachi simplified it for him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ...Part of my Nano project was a Naruto AU where things diverged from canon the night of the Kyuubi attack, in the same setting as [Tell you a secret (I'm not alarmed)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13568802).

***

Shisui had no memory of ‘home’ - he knew at some point he must have had parents and a house they lived in, older siblings, maybe. But his first memories were of Aunt Emi’s old creaky place, with its dormitory-like rooms and the other Uchiha orphans sleeping three to a room. Then it was another war, where actual roofs were replaced with tents or occasionally, tree canopy or a cave wall. After the fighting and his new promotion, even though he could’ve moved out, found another place in the Jounin quarters or closer to Konoha’s center, he figured it was fine to stay with what he knew. It wasn’t like he didn’t spend most of his time at the main Uchiha compound anyway.

Shisui was no stranger to close quarters, both at Aunt Emi’s place and also throughout his shinobi career. Occasionally he still longed for a bed to himself, a quiet room all of his own, but somewhere along the line he had gotten used to the sound of other people’s breathing, the sense of quiescent chakra. There was something about the presence of others around him - as long as it was people he at least trusted a little, his instincts allowed him to relax enough to rest.

The Lady Uchiha - who insisted on being called Aunt Mikoto, even though Shisui still stuttered over the honorific occasionally - had called him and Itachi over one day before their usual dinner together and led them down one of the halls in the Main house. Two doors down and across from where he knew Itachi’s room was, she pulled open the sliding door to reveal a neat, empty room with the closet doors open showing space for clothes and a stack of folded futons and blankets. The windows were open to let in the air, and the view opened to the side of the house’s gardens, with its path of flat gray stones and pale pebbles.

“This used to be a spare room for when Fugaku’s cousins came calling,” She said, ushering them in. “But I had been meaning to open the East wing again, and it has enough rooms there for the next time we have visitors.” He was probably gawking unattractively at her but it was hard to pick up his jaw from the floor. Surely he must be misunderstanding…? No way…! “I know Aunt Emi’s house is really far from central administration, and now that you’re a jounin, it’ll save you some travel time if you have a sudden mission or have to crash after a hard one. And you spend so much time here anyway, I figured letting you have this room is only logical.” She smiled widely, looking terribly pleased with herself. “What do you think?”

“Me?” His voice came out in an embarrassingly high squeak, and Itachi gave him a look. For a little kid that just barely hit the double-digits (and already a chuunin, damn!), Itachi could pull off some pretty impressively unimpressed looks. Shisui coughed and tried again. This time he stammered a little but managed to keep his voice from cracking. “Um, you mean, this room...here, for me?”

“I swear he’s usually not this much of an idiot,” Itachi informed his mother solemnly. 

“Hey!” Shisui squawked. Aunt Mikoto made a tsk-ing noise, presumably at her son’s bluntness. Itachi rolled his eyes and nudged Shisui with an elbow.

“Say ‘thank you’,” he prompted.

“...Thank you?” Shisui repeated. Then immediately had to stop himself from reeling back when Aunt Mikoto turned the full force of her smile on him. Wow, he could see where Sasuke’s cuteness came from.

“Then it’s settled! Oh, of course you can keep your place at Aunt Emi’s if you want,” she hurried to assure him. “And you can get your own furniture or feel free to pick anything from the East Wing, I’m planning to have it remodeled eventually. But this way, I can keep an eye on all three of you more easily.” She winked at him and ruffled his hair, and Itachi gave a long suffering sigh as Shisui squeaked some more.

**

The heavy outer doors - doors that he had gone through with Itachi hundreds of times, so why was it so weird now - slid open, much lighter than they seemed like they should be. He wasn’t much of a sensor, but he had enough awareness to feel the slight ripple in the ambient chakra, the house’s protective seals reforming around him, behind him, as he closed the door. The courtyard within was clean-swept, and the front door to the foyer was slightly open. He could hear Sasuke’s high, childish voice further inside, and Itachi’s calmer tones answering him. Occasionally, a light, feminine laugh tinkled like bells through the air. 

Shisui opened the door to the foyer, took a deep breath and toed his sandals off. “I’m home.”

Itachi and Sasuke looked up at him from the doorway to the living room, Sasuke attached to Itachi’s back like some sort of strange, monkey-like growth. Sasuke waved wildly, almost throwing himself off his brother. “Hiiiiiii!” he yelled.

“Welcome home,” Itachi said.

**End


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uchiha Mikoto, having benefited from an unconventional friendship herself, is happy to encourage one for her son.

**

Lady Uchiha Emi had a grievance about how the Konoha police force handled her complaint about the noise levels from a few of her non-Uchiha boarders. It took awhile for Mikoto to placate her, and by the time she was done, she had missed Itachi’s return from the Academy and had to go looking for her eldest. Sasuke was still napping in his crib when she peeked in, so she figured Itachi was probably in the training area that bordered their garden.

Itachi wasn’t alone. There was another, slightly older boy with him, sitting on a tree root and flipping his kunai blade over handle over and over again with seeming carelessness. Itachi had a frown of concentration on his face as he pulled his arm back, shifted his weight, and then threw.

With a _thunk!_ , the kunai landed in the bullseye.

“That’s great!” The other boy said with a proud grin. “Just keep doing it like that.” He caught his own kunai, and without even looking, sent it to the target. That blade hit so close to Itachi’s that it dislodged the other kunai, but was pinned by the ring of the handle by a second knife, thrown right after the first. 

Mikoto blinked. Itachi hitting the bullseye was not a terrible surprise to her - he had been practicing and improving by leaps and bounds every time she looked in on him. But for the other boy to aim without looking and fire it off so fast that even she almost didn’t see it, from a seated position...And then to throw the second one without making any moves to give away the motion beforehand… “Ara, that’s very impressive, young man,” she said. “Shisui-kun, I presume?”

The Uchiha clan might produce lots of excellent shinobi, but there was only one possible prodigious candidate that would look so much like a splitting image of the notorious Uchiha Kagami, with tousled hair and a sunny grin. Considering the dispositions of almost everyone else, the smile was a dead giveaway.

The boy’s black eyes widened as he recognized her. “Lady Uchiha,” Shisui jumped to his feet and bowed deeply. 

“Mother,” Itachi greeted politely. Mikoto smiled and tugged him close for a quick hug, releasing him almost immediately before he could try to pull away and before Shisui looked up from his bow, to minimize Itachi’s potential embarrassment. It didn’t stop him from giving her a Look though, the look that said ‘I am not a child, mother!’. It was adorable, and made her want to just hug him more. She bravely resisted the urge. She didn’t want Itachi to feel that she was trying to embarrass him in front of a friend...she wasn’t sure what he’d do, but she was sure she wouldn’t like it.

And if, days later when Shisui came to visit them at the house, and she saw him sling an arm around Itachi’s shoulders and ruffle his hair, she didn’t say anything but smiled.

**

Mikoto knew that in a few more minutes, she would be overrun by the people who wanted to give Sasuke their well-wishes at the celebration for his birthday. Itachi was perfectly capable of behaving himself without her, but she didn’t want to leave her little boy alone while his brother was the center of attention, even if he might prefer it. A messy head of fluff and a sunshine grin in the sea of dark hair and solemn expressions caught her eye. It didn’t take but a second for her to confirm that Itachi had seen as well - in fact, had been watching for a few minutes already.

“Shisui-kun!” she called with only a slightly raised voice. Nearer the back, the young boy jumped a little in his seat, eyes widening as the smile fell from his face, replaced by surprise and a bit of apprehension. He looked around, as if there might be another Shisui that she could possibly be calling, smile returning nervously as a few others around him looked on curiously. She waved with her free hand, the other cradling Sasuke and keeping his line of sight from Itachi - a necessity, since the brother in question was trying to politely greet various wellwishers and could probably do without a little brother shrieking for his attention. 

He came over hesitantly, obviously reluctant but equally reluctant to be impolite to his clan’s current leader. “You called, my Lady?” 

She patted her seat as she stood up, hefting Sasuke to her hip. “Sasuke and I will go greet the guests now,” she told him. “Can you keep Itachi company for me, sweetie? Otherwise he’ll just take his dessert and go hide in the garden.”

Itachi’s shoulders twitched a little from where he was bowing to great-aunt-Minako and she knew he heard her. She shoved the plate of sweet mochi at Shisui.

“That’s perfectly fine with me, but go with him and make sure he comes back when the ceremony starts!” she said cheerfully. Sasuke gurgled happily and made a passing grab at Itachi as she walked over and started her own greetings. Her eldest shot her a look before bowing again and stepping back.

“Itachi,” she heard Shisui say as the two boys gladly escaped the crush of adults. “Your mom’s pretty cool.”

**

Shisui was a breath of fresh air in the huge Uchiha main house. Sasuke was rambunctious but needy, and while he liked to glue himself to Itachi there were still times when she had to give him her full attention as his mother. Itachi had been a perfect baby that rarely cried, rarely screamed, and an even quieter child that watched more than he talked, and trained rather than played. Mikoto still couldn’t quite condone what Fugaku had done, bringing Itachi to that battlefield, knowing that while it was something that Itachi had to face eventually as a shinobi, it was done far too early.

She had been worried that it was too much, and that worry only faded slightly when Sasuke was born and Itachi started smiling and talking again, brimming over with love for his innocent baby brother. The attack on Konoha and Fugaku’s death brought her worry back full force, but Shisui was a godsend after that - close enough in age that they could bond but also mature and genius enough to keep up with Itachi whereas the rest of their peers were still trying to master the bare basics. The fact that he somehow managed to have such an upbeat demeanor and bright attitude was an unexpected boon, because Itachi lost his chance to be a child too soon, and Shisui brought it back just a little, for him. After spending most of his short life taking care of Sasuke as a big brother with everything he had, Itachi finally had someone that served that role for him.

“Itachi hit all 12 targets today!” Shisui yelled exuberantly as he stampeded into the house. “All of them, even the blind spot one! Without Sharingan!” She could hear the sliding door close more quietly, and the sound of shoes being taken off and neatly lined up in their proper place in the foyer entrance. Mikoto was pretty sure Itachi was neatening Shisui’s set as well. “It’s awesome!”

Sasuke was bouncing up and down in her arms and she released him to the ground to complete the full effect, following her second son’s run down the hall at a more leisurely pace. Somehow that tiny body made almost more noise than Shisui. “Big brother!!!!!!!!” Sasuke shrieked.

Shisui dodged just in time to avoid being run over - his Body Flicker technique was becoming legendary, and Mikoto liked to think it was because he was so good at sidestepping Sasuke on his way to Itachi. Itachi caught Sasuke before his brother could pitch himself face-first into something less forgiving than his embrace. “Sasuke, no running in the halls, remember?” he said sternly, but with his eyes soft.

“Big brother is the best! I’m glad you're back, play with me!”

“Sasuke,” Mikoto said, and her sons both turned their pitch black eyes to her, Sasuke’s wide and liquid with innocence (the little minx) and Itachi’s attentive. “Itachi and Shisui-kun just came back from training, they need to clean up. And then it’ll be time for dinner. You can play with them after.”

“Awwwwwwwwww.” Sasuke pouted. It was adorable. It was only by virtue of being his mother and having repeated, heavy exposure to his manipulative cuteness that she was able to keep up the serious facade. “Fine.” he finally grumped.

“Shisui-kun, please stay for dinner as well,” she said after Sasuke acquiesced to her oh-so-unreasonable demands. “I’ve made plenty.”

“Oh, um.” The poor boy was no less adorable than Sasuke when he was flustered. She knew he had been orphaned young - another reason why it was amazing that he was as cheerful as he was - and orphans didn’t exactly have a very high status in the clan. “Lady Uchiha, I really shouldn’t impose - “

“Nonsense.” She tsked, “I’m asking you, as the Clan head.”

Itachi subtly rolled his eyes at her. Shisui blushed bright red and bowed deeply. “...oh, ok, I mean, all right, if that is what you wish, Lady.”

Mikoto grinned. “And also, as Lady Uchiha,” she added, shaking a finger at him when he looked up, “I insist you stop calling me that. You’re my son’s best friend - “ and now Itachi was blushing, it was so cute she just wanted to squish their cheeks, “I think we can drop the formalities. You may call me Aunt Mikoto.”

Shisui paled. “I can’t possibly - “

She stared at him, making her expression as serious as it could be without activating her Sharingan. He wilted and nodded. 

“All right...Aunt Mikoto.”

**

And since the celebration for Sasuke’s birthday wasn’t exactly a formal event, she heard him call, “Lady Uchiha,” and ignored him. She could feel him get more agitated and flustered at her lack of response and squirming at some of the side-eyes he was getting from the other attendees until he finally said, tentatively, “...Aunt Mikoto?”

“Ah, Shisui-kun!” She turned with a bright smile, since good behavior should be rewarded. “I’m glad you’ve arrived. I was just wondering where you were, I bet Itachi’s getting bored herding his brother away from the food,” she pointed to where Itachi was fending Sasuke off from the plate of grilled tomatoes. After the incident last year, he was not letting the youngest near the messy food until after the ceremony was finished. “Let’s go rescue him, shall we?”

**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess it's going to be a bunch of vignettes? Amazingly enough, this part did include some stuff I wrote for Nano...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikoto and Itachi, not quite machinating...

**

Mikoto wasn’t deaf to the whispers about her son - his maturity, his quiet, his exceptional skills all invited comment, not all of them good. But she knew better than most that just because he didn’t outwardly express his emotions for all to see didn’t mean that he had no feelings, and his quiet was often misread for coldness. She made the effort to treat him as his maturity dictated, but also showered him with the same attention and love that Sasuke demanded. It probably helped that Sasuke had no qualms about declaring his love for Itachi openly and loudly - it certainly made it easier for her to be the same.

So when she started inviting Shisui to dinners, asking after him in casual conversations, and approving of her son’s training with him, Itachi didn’t act any different outwardly but she could almost see the wheels turning behind his dark eyes and placid face.

On one of the days, after Itachi returned from the Academy and conveyed that Shisui had a mission and wouldn’t be back in time for the meal, along with his deepest regret, she smiled and nodded, and then set a plate of mochi down in front of her eldest.

“...Mother?” he asked, a bit puzzled.

“I’m afraid I didn’t have time to make dango,” she said, sitting down herself with a cup of tea. “You deserve a snack after you’ve worked hard.”

Any other boy his age, faced with one of their favorite desserts, would probably be unable to restrain themselves. Itachi merely searched her face - she felt simultaneously proud and appalled that her son felt it was necessary to try and figure out if she had an ulterior motive for her actions - before hesitantly taking a bite. “Thank you.” He said politely when he finished chewing the first piece. “...did you want to talk to me about something, mother?” 

She saw no point in prevaricating when he was obviously already aware that something was going on, “yes, sweetie. About Shisui-kun.” Mikoto blew on her tea. “It’s been just the three of us for awhile now, huh?” Itachi nodded, and seemed to deem it safe to eat another piece of mochi. “I don’t know if you remember your Aunt Kushina. She...passed away, the same night that your father did.”

Itachi thought for a second, his dark eyes solemn. Mikoto wasn’t sure if he would have any memories of the fiery, vivacious kunoichi, since he had been so young, but...“She was your friend.” He offered.

As always when the memory hit, Mikoto took a moment to close her eyes and remember. Kushina’s bright, wicked smile, her indomitable spirit. “Yes, she was a very good friend of mine. When I found out that both your father and my friend had died that night, I was very sad because I felt like I had lost my most precious people.”

When she opened her eyes again, Itachi was looking slightly alarmed at her expression - whoever said he lacked empathy obviously had never seen him when she or Sasuke were distressed. “But you still had us, mother.”

She smiled and forced the lump in her throat down. “Yes. I was very scared, but I still had my precious sons, you and Sasuke. I thanked the Sage every day for that, because that meant I wasn’t alone.”

“...” Itachi chewed another piece of mochi. “Shisui doesn’t have any parents. He lives with...his grand-aunt?”

Mikoto chuckled. “Lady Emi is probably everyone’s grand-aunt,” She agreed. The elder Uchiha had survived two shinobi wars and now lived the quiet, retired life, supporting herself by renting out rooms and taking care of Uchiha orphans for a modest stipend. Shisui was already genin with a good chance of making chunin soon, but he was only a few years older than Itachi and she was hoping now that the war was over, there wouldn’t have to be any other children like Hatake Kakashi.

“He’s alone.” Itachi realized. 

“He’s very brave,” Mikoto answered. “Just like you and Sasuke helped me before, I’d like us to try and help him. Not to replace his family or the memory of them, but to be like new family to him.”

She waited while Itachi ate the rest of his mochi, knowing that his silence was contemplative rather than a lack of answer. Her boy was giving this some consideration - she also knew he would be smart and aware enough to look at the things she wasn’t telling him. He would know Shisui was extremely skilled for his age, a prodigy just like Itachi himself and already a veteran. His potential was fathomless, and even though his own nature was humble and friendly, eventually he was going to be a powerful game piece in both clan and village politics. In fact, with the exception of being born into the position of the Uchiha clan heir, Shisui’s path was one that would be one that Itachi already started down on, himself. 

All the better then to have them be allies to start, for the two geniuses to support each other. Itachi would benefit from having a friend, a mentor, a brother figure. In addition to being a part of a family again, with Mikoto as the Uchiha clan head and Itachi as the future clan head, Shisui would gain the backing of one of the most powerful families in the village.

Mikoto was honest in her desire to help Shisui because she knew the pain of being the one left behind...but she was also a shinobi, and having multiple benefits result from this minor maneuvering, this slight addition to their lives that she wouldn’t’ve minded doing in the first place...well, it didn’t trip her sense of guilt at all.

“...I will keep asking him to dinner, then.” Itachi finally said.

She finished her tea and smiled at him. “I’m counting on you.” 

**


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not always sunshine and kittens in the Uchiha household...but at least the rain never lasts long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, in addition to being vignettes without any particular plot, they won't be in any particular order either...

Mikoto was in the middle of preparing dinner, during one of her rare times where she had the leisure and the desire to try her hand at cooking, when she heard the outside courtyard door open. She paused, listening as the door slid closed and the sound of footsteps drawing nearer. It was a pair, and as far as she knew Sasuke was still on a playdate with Naruto-chan, so it must be Shisui-kun and Itachi. But it was odd - usually by now she could hear Shisui talking enthusiastically, and Itachi’s occasional quiet replies.

The front door opened. “We’re home,” Itachi mumbled.

Well, that was also odd, usually Shisui would have thrown the door open and yelled out the ‘We’re home!’ loudly enough for the entire street to know of their arrival. Not to mention he would then descend upon her kitchen like a swarm of locusts and eat anything that wasn’t tied down. “Welcome home,” She called back, setting down the bowl of sauce she was preparing and turning toward the door. “How was your …” she trailed off, eyes widening as she took in the sight of her son and his friend, and finished with, “...what happened!?”

Shisui’s face was a thundercloud, for once his countenance matching his Uchiha heritage perfectly. He scowled at her and then stomped off without answering. Soon enough she could hear doors and drawers being slammed around. She barely noticed his uncharacteristic rudeness, because - 

Itachi...Itachi looked like he got into a fight with a rosebush. No, a whole rose hedge. Or fell victim to something in the Forest of Death, because he was covered with thin cuts and light bruises from head to toe, and there were twigs and leaves in his hair and his arm and leg bandages were ripped. His sandals, which she knew for a fact were new because he had been growing out of them almost faster than she could buy them for him, were scuffed and torn and muddy as hell. They looked like Itachi had been wearing them for three years, rather than the week that she knew was their actual tenure. His face was stony, but she could read it well enough to see sullen mutiny rather than cold rage. 

He was also hobbling, so she shooed him into a chair, ignoring his obstinate look. “Did you tangle with a Wood Release user?” She chided, picking out a leaf from his ponytail. “Sit tight, I’m going to get the first aid kit.”

Something else slammed in the upstairs rooms and then Shisui was looming at the entrance of the kitchen, practically radiating rage....and holding the first aid kit.

“Thank you, Shisui-kun.” She said. Shisui looked like he wanted to snap at her, but apparently thought better of it.

“You’re welcome.” he grumbled. He came over to the table and opened the kit, taking out a roll of bandages. 

Mikoto looked on, a little bemused, as her son and Shisui proceeded to seethe silently at each other, even as Shisui started loosening Itachi’s left sandal and her son started disinfecting the cuts on his arm.

“Is someone going to tell me what happened?” She finally asked. It wouldn’t hurt to go with the obvious route first, after all, and the atmosphere was _heavy_. She could tell that both boys were about ready to explode, even though Itachi obviously hid it a lot better. 

The boys fought, of course, though Itachi’s maturity and Shisui’s sunny personality meant that serious conflicts were far and few between. Shisui’s anger had always been a flashbang, heat and force in one second, and burnt out easily the next. Once the storm was over, Shisui was always willing to forgive and forget. Itachi was slow to anger, and once roused, it was usually a cold rage, though it was rarely directed at Shisui. It was even more rare to see it heated to a level typical of an Uchiha. For Shisui and Itachi to be _still_ angry made Mikoto both curious and worried.

“Yeah, Itachi,” Shisui growled. “Why don’t you tell her what happened?”

Itachi straightened stiffly, his voice cold, “I already _apologized_ -”

“For what?!” Shisui cut in viciously. “What exactly do you think you’re apologizing for?!”

Mikoto noticed that Itachi stole a look at her, almost too fast to notice. He looked oddly...guilty? But when he spoke, he spoke clearly with forced calm. “For copying your Body Flicker technique.”

Shisui started wrapping Itachi’s ankle - judging from the way her boy hid a wince, Mikoto guessed he wasn’t being too gentle about it. “For a genius,” He said through gritted teeth, “you are an absolute idiot. No, shut up,” he said when Itachi opened his mouth again. “Do you think I’m blind and stupid? You’ve had your Sharingan since you were _eight_ , that’s before I even mastered the technique. Don’t you think that if I really didn’t want you to learn it, I would do the smart thing and not use it where you can copy it?!”

Itachi blinked, then closed his mouth. 

Shisui tied off the binding on Itachi’s ankle and gripped the leg above the knee, using his other hand on the calf to gently rotate the joint. When Itachi continued to stare at him as if he grew another head instead of flinching, Shisui nodded and repeated the action on the other leg - checking for sprains and strains with well practiced motions that Mikoto suspected he had used on himself. 

Mikoto took a sip of her tea. Shisui’s outburst had done its job - the atmosphere around the boys wasn’t as fraught, for all that it was still heavy and a bit tense. Shisui now looked more tired and resigned than anything else, and Itachi shocked out of his sullen anger. 

“The first time I tried the Body Flicker,” Shisui finally said, after he finished cleaning the skinned knee in front of him, “I almost ran myself off Hokage mountain.” He scowled down at the gauze, then resumed his doctoring. “I broke my left ankle, right wrist, tore a ligament in my knee, scraped about a third of the skin off my back, and got a concussion on top of that.” He gave the uninjured ankle a little shake. “If I had _actually_ fallen off all the way, it would’ve been worse.”

“Shisui…”

“Do you really think I’m that bad of a friend, that I wouldn’t be willing to teach you? At least give you tips from what i’ve learned, like wear really good shoes and make sure your path is clear for the first run? Do you really think I’d get _mad_ at you for copying something that I never bothered hiding?”

For once Itachi actually acted like his true age, giving her a panicked look over Shisui’s bowed head. It was clear her boy had completely missed the point the first time around, and she gave him a wry smile in response. He swallowed and finally said, softly and much more sincerely, “...I’m sorry, Shisui.”

**


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uchiha Sasuke's turning eight - this somehow became Shisui's problem (Just kidding, he loves his baby cousin...though he could've done without the chaos of hosting a birthday party).

**

When Shisui turned eight, he was already fighting in the war (albeit not on the front lines, thank the powers that be).

When Itachi turned eight, he was probably still trying to fit in with his genin team, the same team that imploded messily in the B-rank mission that got him his Sharingan not so long afterward.

Who knows what Aunt Mikoto was doing when she turned eight?

In contrast, Sasuke was pouting up at him mulishly, literally having rolled out of bed and waiting for his breakfast, throwing a fit about Academy _homework_ , of all things.

“It’s my birthday,” he said sullenly, the effect somewhat ruined by the fact that his hair was sticking up even more wildly in the back than usual and completely flattened on one side, “I don’t want to do homework on my birthday. I want to play with nii-san.”

Shisui fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose - he was still holding a ladle in one hand and green onions in the other, so it would’ve been an ill advised move all around. “You,” he said with feeling, “are the most spoiled little brat in Konoha.”

“Nuh-uh,” The said little brat immediately rebutted. “The dead last is worse!”

The Toad Sage and legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, got permission from the Fourth Hokage to take his godson Naruto for a short training weekend a month after he started the Academy. The training weekend turned into two weeks due to a combination of bad weather and something involving missing-nin. Uzumaki Naruto made it through without a scratch and with some awesome stories to tell his classmates, but he also failed a few tests as soon as he came back because he simply hadn’t been there to learn the material. Somehow that earned him that nickname from Sasuke, and it just got...stuck. Poor Naruto was probably going to be called dead last by his best friend even when they get to be old and gray.

“He’s not dead last anymore,” Shisui said, wondering why he was even bothering - it wasn’t like the application of logic and facts had helped all the other times he tried to make this point - “He’s barely behind you in grades. He’ll probably beat you if you don’t do your homework.”

Sasuke scowled down at the worksheets. 

If it had been up to him, Shisui would’ve thrown in the towel because he didn’t remember a single thing that he learned in the Academy that was actually useful for any large amount of time after he graduated except maybe the three basic jutsus. If it had been up to Itachi, the giant pushover that he was when it came to Sasuke, homework would’ve been tossed to the side to make time for the brothers to be all cute and adorable together. But it wasn’t up to them - Aunt Mikoto had sternly warned against any slacking off on the part of her youngest while she was away, even if it really was his birthday. Someone had to be the strict parent around here, or Sasuke would become the most spoiled little brat in the whole _country_.

“Nii-san wouldn’t make me do homework on my birthday,” Sasuke wheedled, with big liquid eyes and pouty lips. Unfortunately for him, Shisui was inured from extensive exposure, so all he did was roll his eyes and went back to making breakfast. 

“Your brother has something planned for your present, but he won’t have time to give it to you if you don’t finish,” he said, and didn’t mention that they were being strict with the homework precisely because they were giant saps that enabled Sasuke’s spoiledness - Aunt Mikoto already presided over the Clan’s celebration of Sasuke’s birthday a few days previous, but out of guilt for not being here the actual day, she and Itachi planned for a more age-appropriate surprise party with Sasuke’s classmates and friends as attendees. Now, if only Sasuke would cooperate…he looked over his shoulder at the little brat. “You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

Sasuke perked up at hearing that Itachi had something planned, then looked down at the papers contemplatively. “...fine.” he finally said, and picked up a pencil.

Shisui turned back and stirred the miso, smirking. Using Itachi as a carrot worked, every time.

\--

Aunt Mikoto was actually the one that came up with the idea. “I was thinking, maybe Sasuke is ready to learn the Great Fireball technique. It would make a good present for his birthday.” She announced one day about a week before the event, over tea.

Itachi might have said something but Shisui beat him with his incredulous, “wait, he doesn’t know it _already_?”

She blinked at him. “Ara, eight is a reasonable age, don’t you think?”

Shisui wouldn’t know, he wasn’t sure if he remembered when he learned it, except it was before the War so it was definitely before he was eight. Itachi wouldn’t know either, Shisui was sure, because the little brat had definitely used it during their spars, back when he was like, five or six.

Mikoto seemed to realize this at the same instant, because she smiled a bit ruefully at them. “You two prodigies don’t count. Trusting Sasuke with fire three years ago would have been a terrible idea, but I think it should be fine now.”

“It might still be a terrible idea now,” Shisui muttered under his breath and Itachi shot him a glare, so he mimed zipping his mouth shut.

“So, how do we want to do it?” Itachi asked.

\--

Shisui surveyed his handiwork and nodded, feeling accomplished. Cooking wasn’t one of his strengths - Aunt Mikoto always seemed to effortlessly put together delicious meals when she felt the inclination, and Itachi never failed to decipher the secrets of a recipe, but a simple breakfast was still within his abilities.

“I’m done!” Sasuke exclaimed. “What did you make? Are there tomatoes?”

“Brat,” Shisui said fondly. “Not everyone will cater to your every whim, you know.” Except yes, he did manage to work in Sasuke’s favorite food here and there, given it is the kid’s birthday. But there was no way he was going to say so. “Go put your homework away for now and get Itachi. He can check your work after breakfast.”

“Yes!” Sasuke cheered and ran off. 

Shisui set the table and wondered about his life choices - _well_ , he thought with a mental shrug, _there are worse things I could be doing_. In the general scheme of things, being Aunt Mikoto’s temporary replacement wasn’t even anywhere close to being a chore.

He had the food set out and was a good halfway or so with cleaning up when his cousins finally made their appearance. It sounded like a herd of elephants stampeding, but was only Sasuke running back to the kitchen with Itachi in tow. Shisui noted with amusement that the birthday boy was now dressed for the day, hair brushed (but still like a duck’s butt), face washed and all shades of his previous pout evaporated like morning dew in the face of the sun.

“Good morning,” Itachi greeted politely as Sasuke skidded into his seat and nearly vibrated in place with excitement. “Thank you for making breakfast.”

Shisui also sat down and hid a snicker when Sasuke jumped a little, probably because Itachi kicked him lightly under the table. “Thank you for breakfast,” the little brat echoed and they all started digging in. After a bite of his rice-ball, Sasuke started asking questions rapid fire: “Nii-san, can we play after breakfast? Shisui said you had something planned? What is it?”

“Eat,” Itachi instructed, “then talk. One thing at a time.”

**

With Itachi and Sasuke safely out of the house for Itachi to give Sasuke his jutsu lesson, Shisui tackled the last of the party preparations.

“Hello? Anybody home?” 

“In here!” Shisui yelled. He recognized Naruto’s voice, and normally he wouldn’t be so impolite as to not greet guests at the door, but his hands were rather full at the moment and Naruto was pretty much an honorary Uchiha at this point, given how he and Sasuke were usually attached at the hip.

“Shisui-niisan! We’re here for the jerk’s party!” Naruto exclaimed cheerfully as he barreled into the main house, being his usual blindingly blond and orange self. Shisui was trying to fasten the ‘Happy Birthday Sasuke!’ banner across the far wall, and waved at the half-pint vaguely.

“Presents on the cabinet top over there, if you brought any food, leave it in the kitchen,” the stupid banner had a defective string, and Shisui contemplated pinning it to the wall with a kunai for one long second, before deciding that Aunt Mikoto’s wrath wouldn’t be worth it. He resigned himself to go looking for a regular old push pin.

“Maa, maa,” a familiar voice said lazily even as the sound of Naruto stampeding went toward the kitchen, “Not even a hello for your senior, Shisui-kun?”

“I’m struck dumb by the fact that you’re actually early, captain,” Shisui replied, rummaging through the junk drawer in the living room cabinet. “What is that smell - oh,” He laughed ruefully when he realized that Naruto and Kakashi had brought take-out from Ichiraku. “We already got lunch for everyone, you were supposed to bring snacks, if anything.”

“It’s for the brave souls providing adult supervision,” Kakashi supplied, sauntering over into view of the doorway. Whatever he saw there made his one visible eye frown, “Naruto, no climbing on other people’s counters.”

“But I need my cup!” Naruto protested.

“Please get down from the counter,” Shisui yelled, “if you fall and break something, your dad is going to kill me!”

Things happened rapidly after that, as if Naruto was truly the herald of chaos. Kakashi went to rescue Naruto from a potentially injurious descent from counter to the ground, Shisui managed to get the banner up with a regular push pin, just in time to actually get the door the next time someone hollered at the entrance. Praying to the Shinobi gods that Kakashi and Naruto were enough supervision for each other, because Sages save whoever thought Kakashi and adult supervision went together - he went and properly greeted all of the other guests showing up: Clan heads and regular civilians with their pint-sized spawn and presents for the youngest Uchiha heir. 

Then it was a matter of being polite, making sure that the parents knew when they needed to return for their mini-mes, make notes of any food allergies and dislikes (none, thank goodness, and apparently the Inuzuka should not be forced to eat vegetables), and get everyone to drop off the presents in the designated place, if they brought any, and show them where to hide and how to work the party poppers when it was time to surprise Sasuke. 

“We brought flowers!” little blonde Ino declared happily, holding a bouquet almost as big as she was. Inoichi smiled proudly at his little girl as Shisui desperately tried to remember where Aunt Mikoto kept vases, chubby Chouji and solemn Shikamaru rounding out the youngest generation of Ino-Shika-Cho.

Finally, he decided that the watering urn in the garden would have to do for now, given the sheer size of the bunch of flowers. Thankfully, Ino didn’t seem offended by his lack of vase, content to start bossing around her classmates into their hiding positions.

“When’re they supposed to be back?” Kakashi asked lazily as Shisui ran around trying to hide ten children with varying degrees of success. He raised his head and turned vaguely toward the left. “Hmmm, did you say around one…?”

Shisui would not be surprised if his Captain was part bloodhound, he never failed to smell someone coming. It was a little early but he didn’t remember the Great Fireball Technique being so hard as to take a whole 2 hours to learn, so he hissed to the kids that were still milling about, “Hide!” and they scrambled.

“What about me?” Kakashi asked, pointing to himself, and Shisui took great satisfaction in shoving the older man into one of the walk-in pantries. “How cruel, Shisui-kun…”

There was the sound of the screen doors sliding, and Sasuke’s exuberant yell of “We’re home!!” and the sound of feet stampeding. Shisui despaired of his baby cousin ever learning how to tread lightly, even on home territory. “Guess what nii-san taught me--!”

And with perfect timing, the moment Sasuke barged into the living room, his classmates all jumped out of their various hiding spots and yelled, “Happy birthday!” and “Happy birthday, Jerk!” (Naruto) while setting off the poppers. For a few seconds it was utter chaos.

When the confetti and streamers settled, Sasuke was frozen in place, his eyes wide with shock and a piece of the colored paper landed in his hair. Itachi walked up to him calmly and plucked it off, and that seemed to shake Sasuke out of his stupor. 

“...for me?” He asked, blinking, taking in all the smiling faces of his friends and the giant banner on the wall, along with various balloons and decorations.

As if that was a signal, all the children started talking at once. 

“I brought you flowers!” Ino declared proudly.

“Is there cake? You said there would be cake.” Chouji mused, producing a bag of chips now that his hands were free. Kiba was trying to stop his puppy from howling at the noise, Naruto was jumping up and down and chanting “Jerk! Jerk! Jerk! Happy Birthday!” like he was a broken record, and Shisui gave Itachi a significant look before turning his eyes toward the kitchen.

Itachi followed his gaze and saw Kakashi trying to discreetly sneak away from the overwhelmingly noisy presence of Sasuke’s peers. 

“Children,” he said, and damn if that calm, authoritative tone didn’t cut through the clamor. Itachi channeled Mom-at-the-end-of-her-patience really well. “We’ll have cake and presents later, but for now, Kakashi-san has lunch.”

Shisui cackled to himself as Kakashi shot them a dark look with his one uncovered eye that promised thorough retribution.

**

Sasuke recovered rapidly from his surprise and was his usual self in a few seconds. Shisui, Itachi and a reluctant Kakashi managed to get all the attendees fed with the meal that Mikoto had thoughtfully catered, and then once they were relatively sure that the children had proper food in their stomachs, cake was added to the mix.

Opening of the presents would have been a crazy affair with a bunch of seven and eight year olds anyway - seven and eight year olds (and one puppy) high on sugar? Shisui had been in pitched battles that were less chaotic.

“We’re going to go play Ninjas and Samurai!” Sasuke yelled at the top of his lungs, a handful of the other boys already running out with the various toy shuriken, kunai and fake swords that had been some of the birthday boy’s presents. Ino and Sakura were just as rambunctious, with Ino pulling out a few of the longer flowers with the stiff stems from her bouquet as ‘swords’ and pushing one at a blushing Hinata. 

Itachi neatly snagged his collar as he ran by. “What did I say about the jutsu?”

Sasuke dutifully recited, “Never use it on anyone except true enemies, and not unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Which means?”

“I’m not going to use it for a game,” Sasuke said indignantly. “I know it’s serious! I’m eight now!”

“Good.” Itachi released him. “Go have fun. Don’t put anyone’s eyes out.”

“You just had to say it,” Shisui groaned. “Now we’re jinxed.”

**

Somehow, they survived.

Shisui waved with the last dregs of his energy as the last tiny non-Uchiha hellspawn was taken away by a doting parent. Sasuke had been starting to flag by the third game of tag, the sugar rush burning itself out and flood of excitement from his big day finally slowing to a trickle. Shisui suspected that learning a new jutsu and then the party and playing so hard right after meant he was going to run out of energy, and soon. 

When Shisui came back into the living room he was proven right: Naruto was already snoring on the corner of the couch, surrounded by toys, old and new. But the little blonde had been about three times as rambunctious as anyone else, so Shisui wasn’t surprised he passed out first. Kakashi was probably around...somewhere. Plotting revenge, most likely.

Next to him, Sasuke was similarly conked out, some sort of puzzle game that was a present from Hyuuga Hinata and family by his slack hand. Near the end, he had been staring at it so intently, trying to solve it, that Shisui was half worried that he’d manifest the Sharingan by sheer will. Looked like the exhaustion caught up with him before he could finish.

Itachi was picking up the various debris left by the gathering of small children around him, starting to drag a little himself. 

“What’s the damage?” He asked his cousin, gathering up dirty plates as Itachi finished trashing the wrapping paper and packaging and started gathering the presents.

Itachi gave him a bland look. “Why do you think there’s damage?”

Shisui snorted. “Because it’s Sasuke and a fire jutsu. Is the pier still standing?”

“Why? Are you asking because of personal experience?”

“Brat.” He said fondly. Besides the two napping children on the couch, the living room looked almost back to normal and none the worse for wear. All the kids seemed like they had a good time, and Shisui was fairly certain he hadn’t offended any important parents or clan heirs. All in all...he held his fist up for a bump. “Mission accomplished!”

Itachi gave him an unimpressed look. Shisui wiggled his fist. “...really?” He asked dryly.

“C’mon, you’re no fun.”

Itachi rolled his eyes, but did reach out and tap his fist with Shisui’s. With a fond smile at Sasuke, he echoed softly, “Mission accomplished.”

**  
End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Sasuke probably won't be able to surprise Kakashi with the Great Fireball during the bell test anymore, but Itachi and Shisui would have plenty of time to teach him other tricks. Now I really want to write Team 7 shenanigans in this AU because Sakura's POV on what the Uchihas (and by extension, the Namikaze-Uzumaki-Hatakes) consider 'normal' would be comedy gold. Kakashi will just despair because he went from having to captain the Uchiha brats in ANBU to having to be the baby Uchiha's jounin-sensei. Poor Kakashi.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uchiha Mikoto machinates for the good of everyone - but like a good, responsible member of the village, gives the Hokage a heads-up about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had most of this really badly written as part of Nano from like, 2 years ago. I was going to post as-is but it was just so ugh...I don't know if this is any better, but at least I can read it without having to stop and go 'what?' every few lines now.

\--

It was a quiet weekday afternoon when Uchiha Mikoto made her way to the Administration building and was waved in by the chuunin manning the check-in desk. The door to the Hokage’s office was oddly open, and when she peered in, she almost could not see the leader of the village behind the stacks of paperwork dominating his desk.

“You look terrible,” Mikoto said as she entered, tucking away a strand of hair behind her ear. It had been awhile since she had talked face-to-face with the husband of her best friend, without the Council and the Clans around them. She had known both Kushina and Minato from her childhood, though Minato didn’t make it onto her radar until Kushina’s rescue, and the three of them, and then later Fugaku, had all been on friendly terms.

Even if the stories Kushina told her during the course of their friendship hadn’t been enough to warrant the casual address in a non-formal setting, their mutual and painful understanding of what each other had gone through in losing their most important person after the Nine-tails attack, had made the normal formalities between Hokage and Clan Head seem fairly pointless.

Namikaze Minato, Konoha’s Fourth Hokage and the Yellow Flash, looked up from his paperwork with a startled expression that reminded Mikoto of a shocked orange kitten. It’s always so easy to forget how terrifying he really was. 

Minato’s blue eyes were tired but at the sight of her, he set his brush down and rubbed his face with both hands before mustering a rueful grin, waving her toward the chair for visitors. “Mikoto! I’m sorry about the mess...I think the Third tried to warn me, but I guess paperwork is better than having some actual attack or disaster in the village. How’ve you been? What brings you to my humble fire-hazard of an office?” 

“Unfortunately, not a fun topic,” she replied, sitting straight in her chair and reaching into her voluminous sleeves to pull out a scroll. “There’s an idea I wanted to bring up at the next meeting with the full council, that has all the clan heads. I wanted to talk to you about it first.” 

He accepted the scroll with a solemn expression, but did not move to open it, his full attention on her, waiting for her to elaborate. She nodded toward the scroll, which had been updated and copied over in her own writing, but the contents had mainly been from things that she managed to salvage from their home, from her husband’s study. “Fugaku had the bare bones of it, and we had talked about it, before…before the incident with the Nine-tails.”

He had always felt that he needed to run ideas by her, both because she tended to be more level-headed and because having been involved in clan politics all her life, she also had a good idea of how things would go over with the other clan heads or their own elders. She kept telling him he had good ideas and that he could reach all the same conclusions that she guided him to by himself, but he would always kiss her cheek and said that he would do no such thing since his wife was already so capable. 

The memory still made her heart ache dully, but she could smile about it now. “I think I’ve worked out most of the kinks, I think it might be a good first step toward our problem.”

“Oh?” Minato’s face now actually looked like his portrait, solemn and expressionless. 

Mikoto shot him a look. “If you’ll recall, relations between the Council and the Uchiha clan was already cold by the time of the Nine Tail’s attack. I don’t think anyone missed the implication that Danzo thought we were behind the attack when he made the comment about the possibility of the Nine-Tails being controlled by mastered Sharingan. My testimony of what happened, letting Inoichi do a mindwalk to verify the truth, and the support of the other Clan heads that were calm enough to see logic, those were the only reasons that my clan wasn’t relocated to live at the fringes of the village like unwanted lepers for a crime we did not commit.”

Minato winced. The Council had been a thorn in both of their sides for a long time, and Mikoto knew that her clan missed being completely ostracized for nothing by the skin of their teeth, just because the old teammates of the Third had thought there was even a possibility of rebellion. She huffed in frustration. “I recall.” He said tiredly.

“That was smoothed over, even if it was done badly,” she continued. “It’s only slightly less insulting to be considered for relocation than to actually be moved. In case you haven’t noticed,” she pointed out dryly, “my clan isn’t exactly known for being able to keep cool heads, being overly fond of fire, and all.”

“And now…?”

“I have something that might help ease us back into a more normalized relationship. Some concessions that I need you to consider when I bring them up in the meeting. The core Council will want to fight it, but we cannot continue as we have been.” Mikoto said. 

“Of course, Mikoto.” 

“We need some sign or gesture that the village is willing to allow us back into its ruling structure. Currently our people are restricted to work only in the Konoha police force, or as civilians. Likewise, the police force is made of almost all Uchihas. This breeds resentment against us by the other shinobi of the village, because we’re the only people policing them.”

“I’m listening.”

“I’m proposing a trade.” She paused. “We can do a small test run, if you will, no more than five people. We can satisfy my clan by having a few Uchiha in positions directly related to the village or Hokage’s office, preferably the ANBU directly under your command. I’d’ve recommended something in an administrative or advisory capacity, but that might be seen as a slight to the Uchiha’s battle skills.” She sighed. “I might be able to accept that, but the clan won’t, not since it’s highly visible to other clans.”

Minato tilted his head. “And the trade?”

“We accept non-Uchiha as members of the Konoha police force, to end the appearance of nepotism in the policing of shinobi.” She ticked off her fingers, “The Akimichi are great warriors and well liked, known for being honest and straightforward. The Inuzuka are unrivaled trackers, I can go on and on. Adding any members of the major Clans to the force would be a great boon.”

Minato rubbed his chin in thought. “That sounds reasonable, I like it. And the selections?”

“A full, fair trade.” She replied. “We request volunteers on each side, and we each pick for our own offices. The Hokage’s office can choose who you want in ANBU, and the Uchiha clan can vote on who goes into the police force.”

“And then that would calm the suspicions that we’re selecting our own people to place them as spies.” Minato nodded. “I’ll ask around discreetly to see who might be interested in the various clans. You can do the same.” He smiled widely at her. “I think this will work out fine, Mikoto.”

“All right, then,” she smiled back, getting up with a shallow bow.

“Hey, can you do me a favor?” Minato called out as she was almost at the door. She turned and gave him an arch look. Having last minute thoughts was a surprising characteristic for someone who usually gave off an air of being so composed. Then again, Kushina did tend to describe him as somewhat of an air-head on non-serious things.

“What? Naruto-chan wants to come over for a sleepover? Chiharu-san needs some gentle handling?”

He grinned at her. “Ask Itachi-kun and Shisui-kun if they’d be interested in ANBU, please.”

**

End


End file.
